November 2010 Slovakia Match
Match Setting Due to a conflict in Romania, matchweek 4 of the UEFA Euro Championship Qualifiers was delayed for a future unset date, this left several nations with a gap in their planification. Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to appoint a Friendly match, against a team that was bye, from a 5 team group. Slovakia accepted the invitation and the match was created. It was played in the Tehelne Pole stadium in Bratislava, in front of 20894 fans. Squad The squad was announced on November 12th and consisted of 23 players, most of which play abroad with the exception of Edin Visca, who plays in Zeljeznicar, playing in the Adriatic Superleague. It consisted on 3 GK, 5 Defensemen, 12 Midfielders and 5 Strikers. Lech, with 2 players, was the most represented team. While the German Bundesliga, and the Russian Premier League were the most represented leagues with 4 players each. Muhamed Besic the young defensive diamond from Real Madrid, was set to have his first cap, if he got in the match. The squad list is after the break: 23-man Squad Missing Players Sejad Salihovic missed the game with a Slipped Disc, he will remain out, for 5 to 8 weeks. Edis Bahtijarevic missed the game due to a technical reason. The coach decided to give an oportunity to Muhamed Besic Tactics Branislav Mikulic was quoted this week saying: "You can take a friendly match for two reasons, tactically speaking. Either you use it to try new players or a new tactic, or you use it to solidify the team's performance and and smooth running." He chose the second one, the right one, if you consider he's been in charge of the team since August and had only managed in 4 matches. Only two changes from what we have been seeing lately. Youngster Ognjen Vranjes replaced Boris Pandza and Zvjezdan Misimovic made his Mikulic debut, in place of injured Sejad Salihovic. starting 11 for the friendly against Slovakia.]] The starting squad and their roles was as follow. Result and Analysis The game was won comfortably by Bosnia and Herzegovina , with a 2-1 score. Analysis Another match were the Bosnians struggled to have the ball in their feet, but once again, they triumphed because their solid play in the back (in spite of allowing too many long shots) and their unforgiving spirit in front of goal. The match started out, dominated by Slovakia, but they couldn't breach the wall, Bosnia and Herzegovina only retaliated via counter-attack, and they weren't dangerous. In the second half, a nice one-two by Ermin Zec and Miralem Pjanic ended up in the latter one scoring another international goal (third out of four under Mikulic's guidance), in the 59th minute. Five minutes later, Zec himself put in the scoresheet receiving a great pass from captain Emir Spahic. Slovakia pushed forward and finally they got a break when Juraj Kucka found the net in the 84' minute. Important Stats Possession % = 57-43 Passes Completed % = 84-73 Shots 24-8 Clear Cut Chances 0-0 Long Shots = 11-6 Individual Performances Juraj Kucka was the man of the match, after being the most dangerous offensive player of Slovakia. Ermin Zec came on as a sub on the 55th minute, the first ball he touched became an assist for the first goal, the second one, he converted the goal himself. Enough said. He was rated an 8.1. Miralem Pjanic showed that his stellar play in this new position isn't a coincidence, he bagged another international goal, and always was dangerous as a triple threat, pass, solo run or shot. He was rated a 7.4.